How to Achieve a 200% ROI for a Traders’ Chatbot Using Telegram Ads

Hi, this is Max, the founder of SMITLINK advertising agency. In this article, I’ll share an exciting case study my team and I worked on for a renowned trader. How did we make a complex chatbot funnel convert? Let me lay all the cards on the table!

Who’s the Client?

Our client was a well-known trader, Vladislav Derkach, whom you might know by his nickname Vadya93.

Vladislav is ranked among the top 10 investors on the T-Pulse platform. Over the past three years, his strategy has earned him over $11 million.

What Was the Challenge?

In addition to trading, Vadya93 also teaches. To promote his online trading course, he created a chatbot funnel. However, the funnel wasn’t profitable.

Our task was to identify the issues and drive quality traffic to the funnel that would convert into sales.

What Made It Tricky?

Launching chatbots via Telegram Ads has a major drawback — high drop-off rates.

Many projects fall into the same trap. If your bot is too short, users don’t get enough warming up. If it’s too long, users drop off before completing it. Striking the right balance between these extremes is incredibly challenging.

This means that working with a chatbot isn’t just about attracting an audience but also carefully testing how they interact with the funnel. This aspect is just as critical for success.

Another significant issue is Telegram’s strict moderation requirements. Bots often lose conversion efficiency when tailored to meet these requirements.

How Did the Testing Go?

We adopted a step-by-step approach, moving from simple to complex. Initially, we tested the main branch of the bot using Telegram Ads’ default “Investments” interest topic.

The first test, however, revealed a problem: the quality of traffic was low, and the results in terms of form completions and payments were weak.

So, we manually curated several sets of target channels and compared their effectiveness. Each set outperformed the default topic by a significant margin.

We conducted numerous tests and gradually refined the selection of channels to consistently attract high-quality traffic. However, the second challenge remained: improving the funnel itself.

Optimizing the Funnel

Our analytics showed that the main issue with the chatbot funnel was drop-offs during the early stages. To improve performance, we decided to shorten the funnel by bypassing the initial messages.

Instead of redesigning everything from scratch, we tested deep links — URLs that direct users to specific branches of the bot, shortening their path to the target action.

This setup yielded the best results. With these links, users landed directly on the course description page and the call-to-action to visit the website and submit a form. This significantly boosted the form completion rate.

We also tested a mechanism where users were directed to the expert’s Telegram channel, with a retargeting ad placed there to bring them back to the bot. This funnel proved highly effective for re-engaging warmed-up audiences.

To maximize audience relevance, we experimented with creative approaches, discovering that ads featuring custom emojis or avatars successfully reactivated disengaged users. Here are some examples:

What Were the Results After a Month?

Spent: €2,050
Leads Generated: 50 forms completed
Cost per Lead: €40.99
Revenue Generated: $6 959
Final ROMI: 200%

✅ The client was extremely satisfied and continues to work with our agency.

This case is one I’m particularly proud of. Through diligent work on traffic and the funnel, we managed to turn a challenging project with a complex setup into a profitable one.

Key Takeaways from This Project:

Thoughtful funnel optimization is as crucial as traffic management.
Deep link testing can significantly improve performance by guiding users through specific stages of the funnel.
Creative visuals (emojis and avatars) can grab attention and revive audience interest, even when they appear burned out.